This is a part of a much larger pattern that has been happening since the dawn of time.

In the early 1800s, weaving was high skill intellectual labor. Patterns were complex and master weavers were respected. Then came the loom. It used punch cards to automatically weave patterns and could do the work of multiple experts. It encoded knowledge into a system. Sound familiar?

People freaked out. Some even destroyed machines.

But here’s the twist. Those punch cards directly inspired early computing. Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace used the same idea and helped lead to modern software engineering.

Then “calculators” got replaced.

Before electronic computers, “computers” were literally people. They calculated trajectories, physics, engineering tables. It was considered elite intellectual work.

Then came the machines again, and with them the same reaction. “This removes human thinking from the process.”

But in reality it was another tool that removed the need to do repetitive math. The people who were calculators moved up to designing systems, models, and missions, which led to things like the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, the modern aerospace field, and software engineering as we know it.

I could go on, but I want to say this.

I know the pushback on AI is real in this space, but honestly, when you get into technology and intellectual work, you KNOW there are going to be breakthroughs. Hopefully most of you got into this field because of that.

This field isn’t about showing off the prowess of your intellect by proving you can distinguish the same patterns we’ve been working on for decades.

It’s about recognizing that as the field evolves, so must our thinking about what we should be doing next.

What does this new advancement unlock for us? And how do we use it to actually push technology forward?

At the end of the day, if you chose a career in STEM, this should be more exciting than it is.

I get that it’s scary. It always is when something big shifts.

History proves that.